Dark Night
by AquaNerd
Summary: Set after TLG. Artemis comes down with a mysterious sickness that no one, not even the faries know about. It is killing him slowly, but surely.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer, I don't own Artemis Fowl. **

Chapter One

Artemis was tied up and was completely helpless. Not even the big brain could get him out of this…helpless. No, it wasn't Opal or some other fiendishly clever maniac. It was… his two twin brothers! Well, ONE twin to be exact. Becket was using him as a personal jungle gym. Myles, on the other hand was making a…. well, Artemis wasn't sure what it was.

"Myles, could you get your brother off me?" Artemis begged.

"No brother. Beckett simple-toon. Me no touch simple-toon." Artemis sighed… it really was a shame in these occasions that Myles was so much like him.

With a crash and a bang, the door burst open and Butler strode in. He took one look at Artemis's predicament, and cracked up.

"Butler, help! Get this monster off me!"

Butler straightened up, whipping his eyes, "I told you Artemis, your brain can't get you out of everything," while chuckling a bit to himself.

"Yes, Butler, we all know what you said, now, assistance?"

Yet, Butler still didn't move. He crouched down next to Myles. "Myles, why don't you go help your brother?"

"Like I told him. Beckett simple toon. Me no touch simple-toon"

Butler stood up, grinning. "He's your brother all right."

"Yes Butler, we all now that, now help me!'

"What's the magic word?"

Artemis ground his teeth, "Honestly, you are as bad as Holly sometimes." Butler raised his eyebrows. "Fine. Butler can you… _please_ help me?"

"Yes Artemis, I can." He took a few giant steps over and picked up the "monster" and untied his principle from the chair.

"About time," Artemis said, straightening his tie. "I thought you would never come." Butler raised his eyebrows. "Oh very well, I knew full well you would show up, as it is your job, and you always check on me ever half an hour when I do something without you."

Myles walked over with something in his test tube, a strange glowing substance that looked uncannily like boogers…

"Artemis, can you please sit down on this chair?"

Artemis, backing away, "No Myles. I don't want to be tied up again."

Myles look crestfallen. "But brother… I made a hair gel that is super strong… for you. It completely safe too."

Artemis looked at that face, took a deep breath and his resolve shattered. "Oh very well. And how do you know its safe?"

"Yey! Now Butler must leave. Surprise."

"Very well then," Butler replied in his gravely tones.

After the door slammed Artemis turned back to his little brother. "Myles you never answered my question. How do you know it's safe?"

"Oh, me tested on simple-toon. Nothing happened to him."

"You did what!?"

"Never mind."

Artemis sighed, and allowed himself to relax.

Myles opened the bottle and the distinctive smell of the outdoors after it rained filled Artemis's nostrils. "Mmmm…" Artemis said. "Myles how did you know that it was my favorite smell?"

"I read your journal" Myles replied after he finished applying it.

"You did WHAT!" Artemis exploded. Suddenly, the door flew open and Butler jumped in.

"Artemis! What's wrong?"

"That… that… MONSTER found my journal and read it! Oh and does my hair look normal?"

"Completely." Butler took one look at his charge's marble colored face and immediately something what's wrong. "Artemis, are you…"

Artemis fell to the soft carpet in Fowl Manor, unmoving.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Holly Short was in a bit of a tight spot. Which much have been a first since there are not many options when you are a mere three feet to get trapped, but here she was, trapped under a two foot high ledge with a bloodthirsty troll trying to have her for an appetizer.

_This has got to be a first,_ Holly thought to herself. _While I may have set a record, I am not as concerned about that as I am with this mangy troll that only Frond knows how it got in a LEP shuttle bay… _

She held up her gun to see how many shots she had left. A single pulsing aqua light informed her that she had a whopping ONE shot left! _Oh that's just great. How did that happen this time?! _Then, Holly remembered the few dozen shots she tried, and failed to hit the massive troll. That probably was why there were quite a few dismantled shuttles. She shrugged. Not her problem. Holly had to get out of here soon. It was almost quitting time! She had to use the last shot. She took a deep breath, to steady her nerves…

_One shot, hit or miss..._ In, Out… She aimed the best she could give the situation. She aimed and sent it on its way. It hit the troll in the chest, sending him spiraling and falling to the ground with a thud.

Holly crawled out, surprisingly sore. But, what do you expect after crouching for a couple hours? She stood, stretched, an, all of a sudden, Commander Trouble Kelp's voice filled her ear. "Captain is the troll out of action? I repeat is the troll down?

Holly held the reply button on her ear piece. "Yes commander, the troll is out for the count."

"Good job Major. Take the rest of the day off"

Holly groaned inwardly. There was only two hours until quitting time, but out loud, "Thank you, sir."

Holly turned on her hummingbird wings and flew off. She took a stop at Police Plaza to check out and return her brand new Dublex 2000 "_Fresh off the line", Foaly said. "Impossible to break or override." Oh, just like every other thing you make that couln't be override and was? Foaly let out an annoyed neigh. "Yes major, exactly like that. Now go." _She, as a major was allowed to keep the wings. She was cleared for air travel so she flew home, rather then taking the Stick.

As she flew above it, she remembered when Artemis first was on it… She smiled at the memories of the past few months. Well, smiled and blinked away tears. She would never forget the empty feeling inside when her best friend died, to save the world no less. Then a few days a go, he remembered everything. She gave him a test. When she asked the question, what color boxers did you wear when we traveled thought time, he blushed the same color and muttered red… That's when she knew that he was back. Or, fully operational, which is about one hundred fifty percent more functional then the normal person, or 1.5 Mozarts, or ¾ a Da Vinci if he was feeling modest, which was rare.

When she landed outside her pale green house, she removed the wings and went inside. As soon as she collapsed on her bed, the ring tone she set for Artemis played. His forth symphony, written for his friends, primarily Holly. She believed it was titled The Gorgon's Eye. She flipped the top of the ring, or communicator. "Hey Mu-" She froze. It wasn't Artemis on the other end. It was Butler. "Butler…" She whispered. It wasn't so much the fact that Butler was on the other line, it was his expression.

"Holly, it's… it's…"

"Please Butler, Spit it out."

" It's Artemis. He's… sick…"

Holly was stunned. As far as she knew, which is what Foaly knew, Artemis had never been sick in his life.

" It's just a cold… right?"

Butler sighed, eyes cast down, running a hand over his head.

"Butler, it's just a cold, right?" It sounded stupid. Butler wouldn't call her unless it was bad. Very bad.

" No Holly, it's.. Its… nothing I have ever seen in my life."

She stumbled backward, almost falling off the bed.

"What!?"

"It may be a fairy disease… come. Please.

"I'll see what I can do." She replied, turning off the communicator. In a minute she was out the door, hailing a cab.


	3. Chapter 3

In less then five minutes, Holly was at the airport in line for the fastest shuttle to Ireland. Thank the Gods for the LEP badge and uniform. As she was admitted, she sat in the seat closest to the door in case of any other passengers. She shouldn't have worried. She was the only passenger. As she approached the surface, she felt fear. Total, gripping fear. Finally after about 10 minutes too long, her shuttle docked. She jumped out, raced out of the airport, and her first breath of above-ground air. Normally she's savor the smell and taste, but today was not normal. She should have gotten that when the troll was in the shuttle bay. A few minutes later, she touched down on Fowl Manor. Butler was waiting outside. As she returned to the visible spectrum, Butler ran over to her and hugged her. "Holly, thank the gods you're here. It's awful. Angeline is in Paris for the next few weeks along with Artemis Senior. I vote we don't tell her yet. But... Oh… It's… It's..."

"Butler, can I please see him?"

"Yes, right this way."

As Holly was lead to Artemis's room she was amazed by how worn down Butler looked. He looked as if he aged ten years in a few hours. When she looked up again, she as at Artemis' door.

"I'll call if I need you Butler," Holly said.

"Ok," Butler replied at he dejectedly walked back down the stairs.

Holly sighed and opened the door.

The first thing she noticed was… nothing. The room was really dark, but as her eyes adjusted, she could see a figure in the bed. As she approached the bed, Artemis stirred and sat up. Holly moved over to him and sat down at a chair that Butler must have been sitting in. Artemis turned over and whispered, "Holly?"

"Yes, yes it's me."

"Why did you try to kill me?"

"What!?"

"You hated me. You said I was still the same that I was when I was twelve."

"No, I don't hate you."

Artemis sat up so suddenly that Holly almost fell out of the chair. "YES YOU DO!" he shouted, " YOU ALWAYS HAVE EVER SINCE I KIDNAPPED YOU!"

"No, Artemis, Arty.."

"DON'T LIE TO ME!"

The door burst open and light streamed in. Butler stood silhouetted. "What's wrong? I thought I heard-"

**Thunk! **Holly's head whipped around. There was no one in the bed. Butler crossed the room and peered around the far bed post and sank to his knees. Holly jumped up and sprinted over next to him. What she saw filled her with terror.


	4. Chapter 4

_Artemis was tied up to a hospital gurney. There was someone else there, he knew it, yet they were hidden. It was obvious they weren't shielded, there was no haze. When Artemis tried to move his arms, he found that they were tied down. Someone was rolled out tied to a chair, limp and pale. "BUTLER!" The scream almost ripped Artemis's vocal chords apart. Yet, Butler was dead. Gone forever. Tears streamed down his face. Opal Koboi's laugh filled the room._

Holly stood staring. Artemis lay on his back, face paler than normal, if that was even possible, and he lay there, shaking. A sudden cry wrung out. "BUTLER!" Artemis screamed. Holly cringed. That must have ripped his vocal cords. Butler was at his side in a moment.

"Artemis, I'm right here." The worry in Butler's voice was evident. Artemis woke and sat up, eyes wide with terror.

"B-butler? You're alive?" Artemis asked in a horse voice

"Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?!"

"Opal killed you…"

"Artemis, Opal's dead. **You** killed **her** seven months ago."

"No, no… she had to have escaped… You were taken by her and killed… I was there and I saw you and…"

"Artemis," Butler interrupted, "I was not killed by Opal. You fell out of bed, and obviously had a nightmare. You need your rest."

"NO!' Artemis screamed. Holly and Butler stepped back. "No, I can't. Other wise… Opal will be back… Opal will return." Tears streamed down his face. Holly was shocked. She had never seen Artemis like this before.

"Very well then Artemis," Butler said, "I shall be in here with you."

"Thank you… Thank you…" Artemis said.

Holly decided to tell Foaly about this. She stepped out into the hall and pressed her ear to communicate to the LEP station. "Foaly, did you hear this?" she asks.

"What do you think?" came the whinny, "This is better then human television. And a whole lot creeper."

"Yes, yes, I am perfectly aware with how much you love the Mud Man's shows, but please, diagnosis?" Holly nearly yelled at him

"Hold your horses; if you pardon the expression, I'm working on it!" Holly ground her teeth as she heard the clickity-click of Foaly's computer. "Got it! Oh no… Oh no…"

"Foaly, for Frond's sake, spit it out!"

"Well, Major, promise me you won't go screaming out the door with this."

"Fine Foaly! Now what is it?!"

"You never promised."

"Ok then! I promise!" Holly yelled. She could practically see Foaly's smirk. _When I get back to Police Plaza…_ Holly told her self…

"Very well then," said the paranoid centaur, "The prize goes to… an unknown disease!"

"What!" Holly asked/ yelled "Surely it must be like something we know about!"

"Well," said Foaly, "It has some related symptoms to Atlantis Complex, hence the paranoid behavior and Spelltropy, hence the paler then normal complexion."

"But, that doesn't explain the dreams and the nervous breakdowns."

"Yes, yes, I know" Foaly grumbled, "So get that Mud Boy down here so we can analyze him."

"He's not a Mud Boy anymore, Foaly, and I think he would object to being used as a lab rat."

"Oh sure," laughed Foaly "And he wasn't a lab rat for the cloning experiment."

"That wasn't different!" protested Holly.

"Sure." said Foaly and hung up.

Holly took one deep to prevent damage to Fowl Manor and went back into Artemis's room.

She immediately noticed that Artemis was sleeping again. _This was good_, she thought, _He needs his strength._ "Butler," she said aloud, "May I please talk to you alone… err... outside?" He looked up, surprised. Holly rushed on. "It will just be for a moment and Juliet can watch him."

"Very well then," Butler said. He got up from the chair beside Artemis's bed and slowly approached the door. He took one last look inside and closed the door.


End file.
